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You Have Spiritual Gifts - And It's Time You Use Them.
Vince Arnone
Verlag BookBaby, 2022
ISBN 9781667814124 , 162 Seiten
Format ePUB
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Perhaps one of the most iconic scenes in the history of film is when Daniel Larusso absolutely loses his mind on screen, yelling (and even cussing!) at Mr. Miyogi, the mild mannered and somewhat mysterious building superintendent of Daniel’s apartment building. As I’m sure most of you will recall from the 1984 classic The Karate Kid, Daniel is an emotional wreck after having been forced to move from New Jersey to California. He’s now frustrated because he thought he had convinced Mr. Myogi to teach him karate. Daniel was desperate to defend himself against bullies (who were adept in martial arts) that had been targeting him in his new home-town. He had caught the interest of a girl that used to date their ring leader, and they were not happy about it. Instead, Daniel is commanded to paint walls and fences and sand floors for weeks (all right - I’m not exactly sure how many days had passed - but that’s the amount of time the classic 80’s rock musical montage seemed to convey). Anyway, sore and tired on a late night, Daniel sees Mr. Myogi casually sauntering home with a fishing pole and a bucket.
We all know what happens next...Daniel throws down the sanding blocks and other tools and tells Mr. Myogi he is through being his own personal slave! As the rant reaches its squeaky (and slightly vile) teen-aged pitch, Mr. Myogi starts barking even more commands, like, “Side! Side!” and “Pain dee fence!” as he throws a series of punches and kicks directly at his pupil. Instinctively and nervously, Daniel deflects every attack with what is no longer merely head-knowledge, but strong, deliberate motion memory now ingrained in his muscles based on the “exercises” his sensei had him working on without his even realizing it.
I still remember my racing heartbeat and sweaty palms watching this scene. Okay, actually, most of this was caused by the fact that I was holding hands with Paula. She was my first girlfriend, and I was on my very first movie date. But, it was also specifically because of this that I was able to so closely relate to the scrawny Italian kid up on that screen, who so wanted to impress his girl! Anyway, back to the scene...
“Hai! Hai! Hai!”...“San de floor!”...“Hai! Hai!”...Daniel is able to block every punch and kick. The dawning spreads across his face as he realizes Mr. Myogi had taught him the fundamentals - and taught him well. The bullies and their dojo may have some fancy skills, but Daniel now has a shot at beating them because he has excellent, foundational karate.
Many times, we can become so determined to assess our spiritual gifts that we don’t take the time to learn the fundamentals first. The truth is, without a firm understanding of these basics, the gifts themselves may not be sustained or put to the best use. In fact, scripture teaches us that one of these fundamentals is so important that without ingrained recognition of its supremacy in our thoughts and motivations, the gifts themselves will be completely useless and unfruitful. Understand, the next chapter or two might seem a little basic, or even redundant depending on the extent of your faith walk, but I promise these are simply the “san dee floor!” of your journey into spiritual gifts.
FUNDAMENTAL 1- THE HOLY SPIRIT IS A PERSON
I have several cabinets in my garage to organize my tools. Many of these have shelves and drawers, and I have gone so far as to label and categorize every one. (Yes, I know - I’m one of those guys.) I detest looking for stuff when there’s a job to do! I also hate re-purchasing things I know I already have, simply because I can’t find where it is. (And you just know, the very second I am done using the newly re-purchased tool, the old one will magically appear!) It took me a lot of effort and expense to get everything just the way I want it so I can always know where every ‘whatsamajigger’ and ‘whozits’ is at the very moment I need it.
There’s one small two-door cabinet in the middle of my workbench that has three big, painted wooden letters on it spelling “D-A-D.” Inside is every letter and note my youngest daughter, Galilee, has ever written to me in her life; so many that it can hardly close. My oldest daughter, Isabella, put the cabinet together for me (with a little help from mom) when she was 8 years old.
Now, if the garage catches on fire while I’m in it, which cabinet and contents do you think I’m grabbing on my way out? Of course, I’m grabbing Isabella’s cabinet with all of Galilee’s letters! Even though there are many cabinets (and it took greater effort and more money to acquire the contents of the other cabinets - and some of the tools contained within them were, themselves, gifts from people who love me) I am most attached to my daughter’s cabinet because it represents a very precious “who” to me, and not just a manufactured “what.”
In the same way, in order for us to appreciate, receive and best utilize spiritual gifts, we must understand who we are accepting the gifts from. Many times, we are taught about the Holy Spirit simply by analyzing what He does. We’ll get to that, but first let’s look at scriptures that teach us about who He is.
Paul conveys this understanding succinctly as he signs off his final letter to the Corinthians: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” 2 Cor 13:14 (emphasis added). The word “fellowship” in the Greek is “Koinonos”, which is also translated elsewhere with terms like “communication”, “contribution”, and “communion”. It would be tremendously difficult to have this type of “fellowship” with an inanimate thing or impersonal being.
The Bible further reveals that this quality of the Holy Spirit’s being isn’t understood as some sort of theological concept like “personhood.” It goes on to describe Him in too many places with traits and tendencies that relate too much to our own humanity for us to think about Him in such a stoic manner. Let me explain with just a few examples:
THE SPIRIT FEELS EMOTIONS:
•GRIEF
“But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore, He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them.” Isaiah 63:10
“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” Ephesians 4:30
•LOVE
“Now I urge you, brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me.” Romans 15:30
THE HOLY SPIRIT ALSO:
•HAS A MIND
“And He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Romans 8:27
•SPEAKS
“And the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go up and join this chariot.’” Acts 8:29
(He also speaks in Acts 10:19; Acts 11:12; Acts 13:2; Acts 21:11; Acts 28:25-26; 1 Tim 4:1; Hebrews 3:7-8; Revelation 2:7; Revelation 14:13; Revelation 22:17)
•KNOWS
“For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:11
•CAN BE LIED TO
“But Peter said, ‘Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back some of the price of the land?’” Acts 5:3
•CAN BE A WITNESS
“And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” Acts 5:32
•CAN BE RESISTED
“You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit.” Acts 7:51
It’s important when interacting with the Holy Spirit to remember that we are made in His image. The qualities that Jesus displayed when here on earth did not originate when He arrived here, nor were they exclusive to His personhood of God. These same qualities that we see within us, and within Jesus, are shared by the Holy Spirit as well. In other words, the Holy Spirit is not some detached, impersonal entity or powerful force. To believe this is to be closer to practicing zen Buddhism than it is to Christianity, which is based on our relationship with God.
Furthermore, qualities like those above did not originate with us but with God - remember we were made in His image not the other way around. Therefore, His ability to love, grieve, think, speak, and testify are perfect and reliable, unswayed by circumstance or mood. This is great news! While we can never perfectly know His thoughts, when we approach the Holy Spirit we can...
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